I understand you’re running a business and maybe the answer to my question may be locked behind a subscription of some sort, but in case you’re feeling generous, I have a (maybe) simple question for you.

I have my Step 2 CK on May 3 (very soon, I know), and I’m currently scoring between 60-77% on my UW blocks… but I’m feeling so stagnant and I’m having difficulty breaking through this range. I’m just curious as to what you’d recommend in my situation? I’d prefer not to push the test back, but I feel I’m going to have to either get lucky or change something now if I want to break into the 250s by then. You should probably know that I’m also aiming so high because I have dreams of applying to a competitive specialty as a DO student and my step 1 score was a joke.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you!

Hi!

Great question – I don’t have enough data to really tell, but you’re not the first person who’s said their score went down on NBME 20. There’s no right answer, but if you are really reluctant to push your test back, you could take another NBME to check your score again. As far as cardio, or any of the single-subject estimates for an NBME, I’ve found that there are so few questions (and what is considered “cardiology” can be so variable) that it may not actually reflect a true weakness in the subject. Remember, confidence intervals are real, and the CI’s are so board for many subjects that they become of limited utility.

Alec

Hi Sarah!

Honestly, it’s a great question, and one I’ve wondered myself. I don’t have a good explanation for why one would initially be intracytoplasmic – like you, I can only explain why they are both INSIDE the cell membrane. If you find an answer, though, I’d love to hear it!

Alec

I just took the NBME 20 and got really frustrated. My score went down 12 points below the last NBME 16 I took. I read about how some people found it harder than the “old” NBMEs on reddit but still can’t shake the feeling. Do you think I should keep moving the exam back or wait until I take the next practice exam? (i’m 3 weeks away from the STEP 1)

Also my cardio scores in the last two exams have gone down but i’m done with all the new cardio cards (only reviewing as they come) and don’t get many cardio questions wrong in Kaplan so as to choose it as the topic to master. Do you have any recommendations as to what else I can do in that area?

Thanks in advanced

I have a question regarding one of the Anki cards. The one talking about the difference between the thyroid hormone receptor vs steroid hormone receptors.

I understand that both receptors types are intracellular due to the non-polarity of the hormones, but you did not explain why the thyroid hormone receptor is initially in the nucleus vs steroid hormone receptors initially in the cytoplasm.

Both the nucleus and cytoplasm are intracellular so I understand why those are the options, but what properties differentiate the placement between the receptor in the nucleus vs cytoplasm? And can you explain your use of “initially”? Does the location of the receptors change?

Thanks for your time!